Left 4 Dead
PrintHide the children and shield your brains — zombies have risen to claim the earth.
We’ve relished the movies about it. We’ve daydreamed about it happening in our own lives. We’ve even drawn up detailed plans for how to survive the admittedly unlikely event of a zombie apocalypse (answer: barricade ourselves in the local Costco). There’s just something so tantalizingly thrilling about the prospect of fighting for survival in an undead-infested world.
Left 4 Dead, Valve Software’s new multiplayer first-person shooter, delivers that awesomely terrifying experience to us. Abandoned metropolises, a ragtag band of hapless strangers, and an endless horde of infected humans—all the staples of a nail-biting George A. Romero zombie epic—are present and accounted for in this ambitious cooperative adventure. But how does this game hold up to our obsessive zombie fantasies? We busted a few thousand undead skulls to find out.
Survivor’s Journal: How We Lived through the Undead Uprising
In the global zombie apocalypse of Left 4 Dead, our goal was simple: just survive. But reaching a safe haven in hopes of getting rescued was easier said than done. We had to navigate through the crumbled ruins of modern civilization and defend ourselves against a mob of angry zombies that would stop at nothing to see us dead. Luckily, we were never alone in this frightening fight for survival. We were not only always accompanied by three teammates (controlled by either real players or AI) but also equipped with a zombie’s greatest weakness: bullets. Lots of bullets.
Our nerve-racking journey was broken into four story campaigns, each consisting of five sequential levels. These “movies” all followed the same structure: The four of us traversed zombie-infested territory to reach safe houses at the end of each chapter, building up to a lengthy final stand while awaiting rescue at each campaign’s finale.
We started off in the No Mercy act, which challenged us to find a way to the rooftop of a hospital from a distant apartment building. As we made our way through dimly lit hallways and claustrophobic stairwells to the street, we caught our first glimpse of the infected masses—soulless husks of our once neighbors and friends. It was a mistake to agitate them; once alerted to our presence, a wave of the ghoulish goons swarmed our position. These common zombies were easy to put down with our assault rifles and shotguns, but their overwhelming numbers and surprising speed made them formidable foes. Zombies would climb fences, claw through closed doors, and crawl over any obstacle for a taste of our flesh. Shooting off their limbs wasn’t even enough to keep them down—the undead were impressively determined (a well-aimed headshot, though, stopped them in their tracks).
Frenzied shootouts were dynamically timed by the game’s AI Director to give us moments to catch our breath after a slaughter (see the sidebar on the next page). These welcome lulls in the mayhem actually added tension because we weren’t sure how much time we had before the next onslaught.
Even more frightening was the presence of five Boss Infected. More freakish than the common zombie ilk, each boss had a special ability to cause disarray among our group. The grotesquely obese Boomer vomited bile on us to attract hordes to our position, the stealthy Hunter pounced from the darkness to keep us pinned on the ground, the lanky Smoker snagged and strangled stragglers with his tongue, and the hulking Tank swatted us around like we were flies. The only way to stay alive was to work together, communicating frequently and calling out threats to avoid being caught off guard. The necessity for teamwork here is unmatched by any other multiplayer game, and the payoff for surviving the full campaign is incredibly rewarding.
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stereomood
December 22, 2011 at 2:53am
Ha-ha I admit, too much gore for me as well :)
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Siomona
November 02, 2011 at 6:51am
Really great game, thoug it have passed a lot of time since it was released, but I even gave up managing my <a href="http://www.datalinkuk.com/products-services/web-datalink-for-sage-line-50/" title="sage">sage</a> and only kept playing it.
Boizusi
October 25, 2011 at 6:59am
I really love this game, I enjoyed a lot. but I stricktly dont let my kids play this game.. maybe sooner on the right age.
Best regards,
John L. Covington
simpleastat
October 24, 2011 at 6:49am
Left for dead is a great game but it does get boring.
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jerjerous
October 06, 2011 at 5:01am
"LFD" was primarily advertised, and hyped at the latest E3 summit, as the great zombie co-op game not just online but offline as well. Based almost primarily on this (that and I love playing as Vietnam veterans), my little brother and I saved up for this one so we could finally kill mass hordes together rather than one at a time while the other sits there patiently twiddling his thumbs. We brought it to our home, put it in and were immediately taken in by the mass sound interacting with our Yamaha home theater. It was, for a lack of a better term, really loud. Chamberlain Garage Door Opener
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excalibur
November 22, 2010 at 6:51am
Played a while, the graphics is fine. Too much gore for me though :)
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August 28, 2010 at 11:28pm
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July 22, 2010 at 10:21pm
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July 02, 2010 at 3:00am
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June 16, 2010 at 11:27pm
I remember how we played games like this in school when I was younger. Ok, then it was Doom but still it is something similar and I like them. acne scar cream
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May 20, 2010 at 4:58am
I love to play this game. This is one of favprite game and the other one is counter strike. This blog is geniunly doing a great job.
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January 07, 2010 at 3:23pm
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Bender
May 05, 2009 at 4:01pm
A fun game to play with friends. The maps kinda got old really quick to me, but the concept of the game is insane. Hella fun!
gothliciouz
December 26, 2008 at 4:23pm
i hope valve releases more campaign as episodes, that would be awesome! ;)
rayatwork05
December 15, 2008 at 9:43am
the games fun for sure, replayability.....its fair value at best. no story line, limited guns and maps, no updates to keep the game interesting.
it's like playing a zombie movie, very intense, but its too much too often, and the game gets redundant very quickly. on the up side, easily one of the most balanced MP games ive ever played.
fun for an hour a day, no more.
xbox/PC version vary.
SpazzAttack
December 07, 2008 at 10:04am
Welp, in normal difficullty, I played all four single player campaigns through a couple of times already. I can't make it all the way through a single campaign on the higher difficulty levels...yet.
My nephew is hooked on the multiplayer version. He loves it also.
Great for mindless fun! :)
deanameske
March 24, 2011 at 12:00am
zombies is my most famous game. Cant miss out giving its positive reviews!
K0BALT
November 29, 2008 at 9:29am
I just went and picked up my copy today. I've only played about 2 hours so far, but it's freakin' awesome. i can't wait to play online. I was expecting to pay the $50 price tag that it was marked at, but when I got to the register they said it was on sale. WOOT!
rlynker
November 22, 2008 at 10:05pm
So I finally played the level at the airport and waited to see that "747" crash in front of me. I don't know what kind of plane crashed, but it was NOT a 747. A 747 has 4 engines....the plane in the game only had 2 engines.....unless of course the AI Director is changing that each time as well?
Great review, nonetheless Norman. Love the game. Thanks!
ericmckenna
November 21, 2008 at 7:39am
I love the blood spattering across the screen. I only wish there was a key to wipe the blood off your face. ;) KILLING ZOMBIES ROCKS!
Sonickid101
November 19, 2008 at 11:53pm
Any game that keeps me and my friends forgetting time until 5am in the morning and f%&*!ing up my workday is a 10 out of 10. So I concur with MPC's verdict and everyone should own this game preferably all the PC version.
squarebab
November 19, 2008 at 9:32pm
After repeatedly playing the single player mode I finally got some cojones and jumped into co-op. It was instantly apparent to me that co-op is habit forming. The more I played with my teammmates the more I felt responsible for their survival. No matter how many times you fail as a team (which means everyone friggin' died) the server puts all the same people back at the starting line to try again as a team. I felt bad having to leave before accomplishing our goal. During gameplay there was a friendly voice guiding us. It was one of our teammates, and I assume it was the team leader, but I have to play more to find out if the voice option is available to all. I still have a lot to learn about this game, but it will be fun wasting the hours away getting better. I hope Trey and Matt parody Left 4 Dead like they did WOW, because this game feels like it's going turn its players into the living dead from the same devotional excessive play.
you can pick your friends and you can pick your nose, but....
wolf17
November 18, 2008 at 9:20pm
I agree with your score of a perfect 10, it's a game with zombies that has a great deal of replayability! You need to work together to survive and if anything it'll prepare you for the real zombie apocolypse! :P hehe
Cool screenshots guys, who got the most headshots?
the_crowbar
November 18, 2008 at 7:19pm
Wow you are totally off-base man. maximum pc does NOT take bribes. They've been honest reviewers since 1998 and though they have made mistakes, they didn't do it because of money. They have the full copy! its called a REVIEW COPY. kinda basic. you'd probably know that if you knew what you were talking about.
dragmasil
November 19, 2008 at 1:25am
dragmasil
I hope your comment was not directed at me just in case it is I was stating that it is part of their job to rate a game not that they take money to give it a good review. Wasnt sure if not please disregard.
dragmasil
November 19, 2008 at 1:26am
dragmasil
Hey subjective
criticism
is ok but the editors of MPC and PCG play this game and they have spent a lot of time on it just wondering how much time you have spent on it? You really can not rate this game on the two levels that the demo provided which is why these guys got to play more levels as you can see in the screen shots.
P.S these guys get paid to offer their opinion take it or leave it but don't disrespect them.
Azruelli
November 18, 2008 at 9:15am
I can't wiat until my next paycheck, I'm getting Wrath, L4D, and Fallout 3. I'm going to be spending a lot of time with the supposed map editor L4D ships with. So awesome.
Mattrickc
November 18, 2008 at 6:57am
I fully back MPC for this score. I have played through the demo many times and absolutely love it. I have been telling all my friends about how much fun it is. It has been a long time since i actually got this excited about any game. I love how much you need to work as a team to get through it and the way it is different everytime you play. They truly did a great job, with so much blood splatter and the physics to the way the zombies behave, it really feels like you are fighting for your life. Ive even been playing the demo online on expert and repeatedly dying - and it was still fun - when was the last time it was fun to die?
logoonlinepros
January 17, 2011 at 11:48pm
I am also love this most popular and famous game i never miss it any part now i will try its new version soon.
Thanks for share such a great review about that game.'
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StealthSilver
November 18, 2008 at 5:08am
Online review seems a lot more in-depth than the one in the magazine.
willsmith
November 18, 2008 at 10:42am
Five bosses are the Hunter, Smoker, Boomer, Tank, and Witch. The Witch isn't playable, as she'd be much, much too powerful.
willsmith
November 19, 2008 at 12:32am
If you bother her, she makes you pay. Bothering can include, but isn't limited to: walking too close to her, shooting her, making something near her explode, bumping into her, throwing something on her, shining your light on her, making a loud noise near her, or making a soft noise near her.
Basically she does a ton of melee damage, but she also has a small area-affect stun that basically dooms you when she's working on you.
wolf17
November 18, 2008 at 9:10pm
Did you watch the opening cutscene? It shows the Witch in that opening movie. It's a zombie who cries in agony and if you startle it (attack or shine your flashlight at for example) she will go after her attacker and then decimate your entire team! :P lol (at least that's what happened to me!). The witch is very powerful enemy as it doesn't take much effort on her part to kill you whereas it takes quite a few shots to kill her!
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